


You Don't Have To Leave (Or The One Where For Once, Jim Has To Wait For Bones To Come Back)

by AlyssiaInWonderland



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Caring Bones, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Tarsus IV, Tumblr Prompt, Waiting, sad jim
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-26 15:04:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12061434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlyssiaInWonderland/pseuds/AlyssiaInWonderland
Summary: When Starfleet's Medical Officers are scrambled to help with crisis on a border-planet, Jim is reminded of Tarsus, and Bones has to go and help. Will Bones make it back?(Spoiler: he makes it back and then the Angst turns into Fluff!!)





	You Don't Have To Leave (Or The One Where For Once, Jim Has To Wait For Bones To Come Back)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nerdqueenenterprise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdqueenenterprise/gifts).



Jim is in the shower when the Starfleet Tannoy system turns on. The Enterprise is in for a refit, and Jim is in his assigned Officer’s quarters, across the corridor from Bones. The shower is loud, and he has plenty of practice at ignoring the announcements from back in his days at the Academy, so he takes his time, luxuriating in the rarity of a water shower, compared to the more efficient sonics that he tends to use when on board.

He dries himself off, pulling on boxers and jeans, his bare feet cold against the wooden floor, but he doesn’t mind. He watches the holo-screen idly as he tries to decide what to do with the free time he somehow has, thinking he might go and pester Bones. Or better yet, jump his Bones. He sniggers to himself at the thought, and almost misses the announcement on the Starfleet bulletin.

 

“The news blackout from Novatir VI has broken. We have received reports of widespread famine, and a local virus that has taken advantage of the weakened population. The Governor has finally broadcast for help, after being faced with an ethical conundrum that experts are comparing to that of Kodos on Tarsus IV, as he must try to decide how to deal with the thinning resources and spreading plague…”  
  
Jim doesn’t hear the rest of the reporter’s words. The room has gone at once far away and glaringly present; his breaths feel too loud in his chest and the Tannoy static almost deafens his ears.  
  
“All Starfleet Medical personnel not currently deployed on a working vessel are to be ready to depart for Novatir VI in T-minus fifteen minutes. I repeat, all Starfleet Medical personnel not currently in active deployment are to be ready to depart for Novatir VI in T-minus fifteen minutes. A full list of drafted personnel and briefing is available on the bulletin boards.”  
  
Jim has to try five times before he can tap out of the news and into the bulletin board. His hands, his whole body, is shaking, but his eyes are sharp as he scans the names. There, _Leonard H McCoy._ Bones is being sent to Novatir VI.

He hears someone’s voice, a high-pitched whine that won’t stop chasing him as he crashes through his door and slams into Bones’. It is only when the sound breaks off at the impact that he realizes the sound was him. He reels back from the door, grasping for self-control and just barely finding it. He hears Bones’ voice through a haze of pure panic that is enveloping his existence, and he pushes it down as he takes the door handle and twists it, opening the door slowly. He steps in, suddenly hardly able to bear entering despite his frantic energy.

 

Bones is standing by his bed, folding clothes into his bag and looking like he wants to murder the governor, the plague, and whatever caused the famine, single-handedly. The determined jut to his jaw and the irritable frown somehow soothe Jim. This is how Bones reacts to every single mission, and the familiarity of his response is comforting, making it seem less like another Tarsus IV and more like another mission. He looks up, drops the clothes he is holding and rushes to Jim, and he thinks maybe he wasn’t doing as good a job at control as he thought. As soon as Bones’ arms are around him, Jim starts to cry, silent tears, clinging to his boyfriend tightly. Jim feels the rough uniform fabric against his still bare chest, and he buries his face in the crook of Bones’ neck, breathing in the smell of his skin and his tea-tree-and-mint body wash.   
  
“You don’t have to leave.” He whispers, his voice muffled.  
  
Bones gently pries Jim’s arms off of him, holding his shoulders so he can see his boyfriend’s tear-streaked face. “Yeah, I kinda do, kid.” He says, his voice rougher than usual.  
  
“Screw the drafting thing, Bones. I’m a Captain, my mother is an Admiral, I could-“  
  
“That ain’t why I gotta go, Jim. And you know it.” Bones says, and Jim hates that he is right. Jim knows that Bones can’t not go. It’s part of what he loves about him; Bones is compassionate to a fault, always wanting to help and heal, and he will go the extra mile, hell, the extra thousand light-years if it means saving even one other life.  
  
“I know. I’m sorry. I just…I don’t want to lose you, I only just got to have you. And this all…it all feels too much like Tarsus.” Jim’s voice is shaking as he speaks.

“Hey,” Bones lifts a hand to Jim’s chin and tilts it up, so their eyes meet, hazel to blue. “It ain’t gonna be another Tarsus IV. And if it is, then I gotta be there, to save all the lives I can. You know that.” He sounds determined but soft, and Jim’s heart swells and breaks at the sheer goodness of the man he loves. “But I’m also gonna come back. I’ll come back, you hear me, sugar? I’ll do what I can, and then I’ll be back here, with you, I’ll always come back to you, I-“

Jim cuts off his words with a kiss, desperate and filled with need and love and pain. He tastes salt, and he isn’t sure if the tears are from him or Bones. The Tannoy buzzes again, and Bones pulls away at the five-minute call. He holds Jim’s hand, even though he has to put in his case of hypos and zip up his bag one-handed. Once he’s done, Jim is still crying, but silently, and he looks determined too. Jim pulls Bones in for one final kiss.  
  
“I love you, Bones.” Jim whispers, stepping back and letting go of his hand. To Bones, it feels like a goodbye.  
  
“I love you too, kid. And I’ll tell you that when I’m back, too.” Bones tries to smile, wiping his tears on his free arm. Jim gives him a weak smile back, and they walk to the docks quickly, side by side, but not quite touching.

 

The others are already at the docks to see Bones off, and he glares, rolling his eyes at Uhura’s serious, worried gaze, Scotty and Keenser and Jaylah all chattering loudly about how little they trust non-modified shuttles. Sulu and Chekov pat him on the back bracingly, and Spock actually wishes him luck. The atmosphere is like a wake, and he glares some more, even though he’s secretly warmed. “Dammit all, I’m gonna be back soon enough! Now stop carrying on so much, or I’ll refer you to Chapel for five rounds of hypos.” They all understand that this is his way of being comforting and confident.

 

Bones leaves, and Jim and the crew are left behind. Jim is, for once, forced to do the one thing he never has to usually; he has to wait, and watch history unfold from afar.

 

Starfleet make it to Novatir VI in time. The dwindling supplies are restocked, and Leonard H McCoy is one of three names cited as those who made the breakthrough antidote to the virus rampaging through the population. There is talk of the three being given a commendation of some kind, and Jim can hardly bear the fondness in his heart when he sees the interview, and Bones quips that he just wants a damn drink and a soft bed.

 

They kept the ETA for the medical ship quiet, presumably to let the officers get some rest before the press start pestering Starfleet for more information. Jim waits in Bones’ room, curled up on the small armchair with Bones’ spare blanket around him.

 

He wakes up when the door opens, and in an instant he leaps to his feet. He grabs the heavy bag from Bones’ drooping shoulders, depositing it by the bed and drinking in the sight of his boyfriend.  
  
“Told ya,” Bones mumbles, a yawn splitting his handsome features, his eyes drowsy, stubble and fatigue etched into his features. “Here I am. Came back. I love you, Jim.” He wraps his arms around Jim’s shoulders, clinging with all the brainpower he has. Jim struggles to walk him backwards to the bed, wriggling out of Bones’ clasping grip and moving down to pull of his boots. He strips him down to his boxers methodically, and Bones manages to smirk. It makes Jim’s heart skip a beat. “Think I might be a bit too tired for that, darlin’.” He mumbles, and Jim can’t help it, he laughs, and the release of emotion sets the tears off again. He rests a hand on Bones’ shoulder, glad his boyfriend’s eyelids are fluttering shut so he can’t see that he’s crying again.  
  
“I was more going for getting you into bed for some rest, Bones.” Jim explains, his tone warm with a muted happiness. “I’ll see you in the morning.” He starts to pull away, but Bones’ arm shoots out with surprising speed. His hand grips Jim’s wrist, loosely but steadily, preventing him from stepping back. “I kind of need my hand.” Jim says, smiling through the tears beginning to choke him.  
  
“You don’t have to leave jus’ because you’re cryin’, Jim.” Bones tugs on Jim’s wrist, and Jim falls onto the bed. Bones clumsily flops the covers over Jim, dragging his arm over Jim’s shoulders and tangling their legs together, and Jim nestles his head into Bones’ shoulder, letting himself be pulled into the warmth of his sleepy lover. “Missed you, so damn much, sugar.” Bones presses his lips to the top of Jim’s forehead, in a tired approximation of a kiss. Jim feels a hot drop of water on his neck, and realizes that Bones is crying too.  
  
“Love you so much, Bones.” Jim tries to pull Bones closer in to him, which is impossible because they are so close they’re almost fused into one knot of limbs. He doesn’t really have the energy to do anything but hold him, and he puts all of his heart into cradling Bones to him, reveling in the warmth of his skin and the realness of his presence.  
  
“Love ya, damn fool sweet’eart.” Bones’ words slur into silence, the soft pressure of his arms and legs and body on Jim like a balm. Then there is nothing but the quiet hum of engines and their deepening breaths, as they fall asleep in each other’s embrace.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I hope you enjoyed this, it's a tumblr prompt! I enjoyed writing this, I'm evil and love angst, but a happy ending is just as fun to write.
> 
> As ever, feeding my dark soul in the form of comments and kudos is much appreciated!! <3


End file.
